I Got Ice Cream

Remember these as a kid? And they were best when purchased from the ice cream man whose truck could be heard from the next block. Upon hearing the ice cream man, the frantic search for mom and dad and their spare change began, right?

Tonight, I took my kids to the park to eat sandwiches for dinner and play on the playground. Yes, Justine has bronchitis but I figured swinging and sliding couldn't hurt much. Besides, she had been chillin' all day and was medicated by then so what the heck; I let her play.

Well, the ice cream man made his way by the playground. Of course! That's where all the suckers are. I'm that mean mom that has never allowed my kids the pleasure of buying ice cream from the ice cream man. Not because I think there may be something wrong with the ice cream, or that I want to deprive my kids of the awesome pleasure associated with the ice cream truck experience. But because in my adult years I've learned that ice cream purchased from the ice cream man is so freakin' expensive! I can get an entire gallon of Blue Bell for the cost of 2 popscicles from the ice cream man.

Now I've never drawn attention to it so my kids don't seem to know the difference. Until tonight. When sitting at the top of the slide, Justine is met by a girl holding a popscicle that very much resembles that in the photo above. And along with it came, "I got ice cream!" Now, imagine that statement to the sing song tune of, "na na na boo boo". I thought next she was going to offer my child a bite. I'm sure she wasn't really going to offer it to her but that's how close to her face she held it. And what came next? "Mommy, I want ice cream." Thankfully, my response that we have ice cream at home was sufficient to put an end to this scene at the park.

Now on to my most favorite scene of this visit to the park. I pull in to the parking space, playground in front of me. I glance in my rear view mirror and see Ethan point, say "slide" (or at least his version of the word), then clap...all with a big, teefy grin. Now that's better than any ice cream truck experience I ever had. Forcing him back into his car seat when it was time to leave...not so much!